Rice and Plaster
by Kawaii34girl
Summary: (1-Shot) Can a small home-improvement project help Yuki teach Tohru a lesson in belonging and self-value? (Yukiru)


Rice and Plaster

(1-Shot) Can a small home-improvement project help Yuki teach Tohru a lesson in belonging and self-value? (Yukiru)

AN Well, I'm not really sure where I got this idea from, but I'm really happy I got it!

If you can't tell, I'm a huge Yukiru fan! But anyway, I hope you like it. And no, I don't have any idea why I'm writing ANOTHER 1-shot when I already have two stories with chappies to up-date. Oh-well! Gatta write when there's an idea and motivation, if not… the idea will rot in the back of my head!

Disclaimer Do u really think that I own Fruits Basket…? Well, in case you do… I don't… yet

But with that said… on with the fic!

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Tohru divided her hair in half and braided each side with grace. After taking a quick look in the mirror, she bounced down the stairs. She smiled when she entered the kitchen.

"Ohayo, Yuki-kun! Did you sleep well?"

The prince took one look at her and a smile crept onto his face. "Ohayo Honda-san, I slept very well, arigato. Where are the baka neko and baka inu?"

Tohru walked to the counter as she answered him. "Shigure-san is in a meating about his book, he should be back tomorrow. And Kyo-kun went to visit his sensi for the weekend."

Yuki nodded as he took a sip of milk. "Hai. Honda-san, what's all of that stuff in the corner of the kitchen?"

She turned around and saw two brown boxes and one white bag in the corner. "Oh, that's the tile and plaster. Shigure-san has been mentioning that he's wanted to add some color to the kitchen, so I thought I'd tile the kitchen for him!"

Yuki Sohma had milk spray from his mouth. "Nani?!? On ALL the walls in here…?"

Tohru cut him off by giggling. "No, just a couple of inches over the sink and counters."

"Oh, ok." Yuki sighed. "For a second, I thought you were going to cover the whole kitchen with tile! But uh… could I help?"

Tohru smiled brightly. "Hai! Domo arigato, Yuki-kun!"

15 minutes later…

The two of them began opening the supplies. Yuki took the powder-plaster and started mixing it with water while Tohru started measuring the wall and estimating how many tiles would be needed to complete the project.

Tohru giggled softly and Yuki turned and cocked an eyebrow while a playful smile tugged on his lips. "What's so funny?"

Tohru showed him one of the tiles. It was speckled with different shades of blue. ""Look Yuki-kun, if you look at it the right way, you can see a mouse looking back at you!"

She handed him the tile and he studied it closely, then smiled. "Ah, I see it. Very kawaii…"

He gave the tile back to her and she held onto it tightly in her palm. Tohru closed her eyes as she rubbed her fingers over the rocks polished surface. She enjoyed the coolness of the rock against her warm hand.

"Honda-san… what are you thinking about…?" asked Yuki.

Tohru's eyes flew open as she blushed. _'Whoops! How long have I just been sitting here…?'_

"Gomen nesai, Yuki-kun!" She said quickly as she sat the tile down on the counter.

Yuki only smiled. "That's okay, you don't need to apologize. But now you've got me curious as to what you were thinking about…"

Tohrus' eyes got very distant as she thought about how she was going to word this. "Well, it's a stupid thought, but it's like you and all of the other Sohma's are all the tiles. Simmilar, beautiful and each have a certain place that they belong on the wall."

She lifted the mixer from the plaster and watched the clumps drip back into the bucket. "While me on the other hand… I'm plaster. It makes a mess out of everything, it's boring and there isn't really anywhere it really belongs. Well, not like the tile at least. Plaster belongs with tile as much as a-…" She faked a small laugh at the irony. "-as much as a rice ball belongs in a fruits basket."

Yuki was too stunned to speak.

'_Is that what she really thinks? "Ordinary" and "boring" aren't words that even come close to describing her. Oh, Honda-san! You do belong, with us! You probably don't even realize how it was when you were gone. And that was just two days…'_

"Honda-san, you're absolutely right, you are like the plaster. Well, it's more like glue. However, you're looking at it all wrong."

"Nani…?" asked Tohru.

"Well," began Yuki. "What would happen to the tile if there wasn't any glue?"

Tohru thought for a moment while she put an even coat of plaster on a small portion of the clean wall. "Ummmm, we would have to put up a boarder?"

The Prince sweat dropped.

She began pressing the tiles one-by-one onto the wall. Yuki wanted to wait until she had a good handful up before he started with his next idea.

"Honda-san, what would happen to the tiles on the wall if the glue just… disappeared?"

"They would fall behind the stove and be lost." stated Tohru matter-of-factly.

"That's right." Said Yuki. "They would fall and be lost. And if it wasn't for the glue, the tiles couldn't belong. The glue also brings the tile together, it makes them stronger."

Yuki then reached over to the counter and picked up the tile that resembled a mouse and threw it to the ground as hard as he could. Needless to say, it broke into several pieces.

Tohru gasped at Yuki's harsh action. She carefully reached around and gathered the pieces in her hand. She closed her fingers around the jagged pieces, just as she had when it wasn't broken.

Yuki took her hand and easily pried her fingers from the tile, revealing that she had cut her hand on some of the edges. Then he took some glue and put it on the corners, and then he put pressure on the pieces. He then opened his own hand to reveal that the piece was put back together.

"All of us were broken, but you picked up the shattered pieces of our hearts and lives. Then, you put us back together, you healed us."

He then opened her hand again and watched a drop of blood drizzle from the cut. "You even got hurt while you healed yourself. But you did it anyway. And you didn't stop there, you gave us a place to belong and you brought us together. You made this house a home and you gave us a reason to live. Without you, we would fall and be lost."

Tohru and Yuki locked gazes as a tear escaped her eye. "Ari- ari- arigato, Yu- Yuki-kun!"

He didn't care about the consequences as he reached out and hugged her.

POOF

Tohru held the mouse in her hands as she brought him to the side of her face. And Yuki nestled his small head against her warm cheek.

THE NEXT DAY

A door opened to reveal an exhausted man in a business suit. He set his overnight bag down by the door and slipped off his shoes. He then started walking towards the kitchen, as if drawn by some unknown force.

"Ah, my sweat flower! Dinner smells great!"

"Oh…arigato, Shigure-san. Welcome home! How was you're trip?" asked Tohru.

"It was okay, but I missed you're excellent cooki- WOW! IT LOOKS GREAT IN HERE!!!!!!" shouted a delighted Shigure as he entered the doorway to the kitchen.

"Arigato, Shigure-san. Yuki-kun and I did it while you were gone. I'm glad you like it!" squealed Tohru.

Shigure smiled happily as he took a closer look. "I'm so happy! You guys did a great job, and just for little ol' me! Hey, wait a second… is this one…broken?"

Tohru looked at where Shigure was exploring. Sure enough, it was the one that resembled a mouse.

"Not anymore." Answered Yuki.

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Tee hee hee, the WAFF is killing me But anyway, I finished this at 2am, November 22nd. But anyway, please leave me a review. Click that little button at the bottem corner DOMO ARIGATO!!!!!

Kawaii34Girl

…because ¾ r cute.


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